Acushnet on state list for library funds

ACUSHNET — The town's efforts to construct a new library received a significant boost recently when Acushnet was placed on a waiting list to receive more than $3 million in state funding allocated for the expansion of a number of small libraries.

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By ZACK SAMPSON

southcoasttoday.com

By ZACK SAMPSON

Posted Sep. 5, 2011 at 12:01 AM

By ZACK SAMPSON
Posted Sep. 5, 2011 at 12:01 AM

» Social News

ACUSHNET — The town's efforts to construct a new library received a significant boost recently when Acushnet was placed on a waiting list to receive more than $3 million in state funding allocated for the expansion of a number of small libraries.

The Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners notified the Acushnet Library Board of Trustees on July 14 that it will provide $3,189,536 to help build a new facility at the site of the former Marie S. Howard School, located at 232 Middle Road.

The Acushnet Community Center currently occupies the old school building, but the town plans to renovate the structure and add a two-story rear addition so both the center and library can co-exist.

Construction crews will transform the existing school building, which was built in 1919, into a 14,000-square-foot space. According to Library Director Jayme Viveiros, the Russell Memorial Library is a 3,600 square foot facility, with only 1,600 square feet open to the public.

In its 2010-11 grant round, state library commissioners awarded General Construction Provisional Grants to eight communities, with another 15 municipalities placed on a ranked wait list. Acushnet currently sits at number nine on this list.

Celeste Bruno, MBLC spokeswoman, said "all of the (grant) applications go through a rigorous review process" before the board selects and ranks which communities will receive awards based on future needs.

Bruno said Acushnet will definitely receive funds even though it's on the wait list, that it's just "a matter of when." She said she could not estimate when the town will receive its grant because of the state's unpredictable disbursement instructions.

All MBLC funds are supported by the General Governmental Needs Bond Bill of 2008, Bruno said, and disbursement timetables are dependent on how much the state instructs the board to hand out each year.

Kristen Leotti, chairwoman of the Acushnet Library Board of Trustees, said her understanding is that "it may be two or three years before (the grant) is appropriated." Leotti also chaired the feasibility study committee appointed by the town's selectmen to investigate the effectiveness of the planned site for the new library.

Leotti said the MBLC money will only cover about half of the total project cost, so local grant writers will apply for more funding in the interim. She said the Friends of the Acushnet Public Library will also hold fundraisers to bring in extra money. In about two years, she said library officials will start advertising naming opportunities for various rooms in the new building.

Once money is allocated for the MBLC grant, Leotti said Acushnet residents will have to vote to support the new facility and the town will cover any remaining expenses not provided for by federal, state or private funds.

Town officials will then hire architectural designers and builders during a construction phase that Leotti expects to take a few years.

"We were thinking it will take two to three years (to build), perhaps less than that depending on when the money from the state is disbursed — you can't do construction in the dead of winter," she said.

All told, Leotti hopes the new library will open sometime between 2013 and 2015.

Library Director Viveiros said the existing library building will remain a town facility, likely housing a different department to be determined by the selectmen.

Both Viveiros and community center co-director Nancy Francis said they are excited for the project's completion and have advocated for the new facility because they need it to better accommodate all residents seeking their services.

Francis said the Acushnet Community Center has struggled lately to support activities and events with few volunteers. "We're down to five people right now running the building, so combining with the library will allow us to work together," she said.

With additional workers, Francis said she hopes to implement more after-school programs.

Viveiros said a lot of local residents, like handicapped people and mothers with strollers, cannot use Russell Memorial Library because it is inaccessible. The new facility will be open to all residents and will offer more to do, she said.

"We will be able to actually respond to the needs and wants of the residents because right now, what we do is sometimes dictated by the space," she said. "We will respond to what people want us to do and not what the space allows us to do."